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Wired for recording

The Cleveland Orchestra will resume commercial recording this week for the first time since 2000, according to this story from PlaybillArts.com.
The best band in the land will record for release this week's subscription concerts of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 led by music director Franz Welser-Möst.
The recording will be released via digital download and on compact disc with a major international record label, although no label has yet been confirmed, according to PlaybillArts.com.
The Beethoven release will mark the Cleveland Orchestra's first commercial recording under Welser-Möst, who in now is his fifth season as the ensemble's music director, the web site reports. The soloists for the performances on Jan. 11-13 at Severance Hall are soprano Measha Brueggergosman, mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Frank Lopardo and bass René Pape.
PlaybillArts.com reports that the orchestra has hired Peter Alward, who recently retired as president of EMI Classics, to develop a partnership with a major record label for the licensing, marketing and distribution of recordings. He will work with executive director Gary Hanson, general manager Jonathan Martin and artistic administrator Frank Dans; discussions are reportedly under way with a number of international recording companies.
Mr. Alward also will advise on recording artists and repertoire, overall electronic media strategy and related artistic initiatives.
According to the web site, this recording initiative is made possible under the terms of the orchestra's most recent labor agreement, which stipulates that recordings will be self-produced from live performances, with copyright ownership retained by the orchestra. Musicians will receive a small up-front payment and a revenue-sharing royalty arrangement.